TLDR : The UK government has announced a successful trial of 'Consult', an AI tool from the 'Humphrey' suite, aimed at assisting civil servants in processing responses to public consultations. The use of these technologies could generate substantial savings and improve public service efficiency.
Table of contents
In January 2025, the UK government announced a strategic shift: making AI a central lever in the transformation of public services. This ambition, led by the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT), was realized with the launch of Humphrey, a suite of AI tools designed for civil servants. On May 14, the ministry officially announced a successful first test of one of these tools, Consult, which, although still in development, is expected to be deployed across all government departments soon.
A First Experiment in Scotland
It was in the context of a Scottish government consultation on the regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures, such as lip fillers and laser hair removal, which are increasingly widespread, that Consult was used for the first time. The tool processed nearly 2,000 responses in a few hours, identifying key themes associated with each of the six open questions. The results were found to be "almost identical" to those of a classic human analysis, with government experts tasked with verifying the themes noting negligible discrepancies in the final ranking. The performance measure (F1 score of 0.76), considered satisfactory, confirmed its reliability and effectiveness.
In practice, Consult does not replace civil servants, but assists them: it proposes an initial categorization, which an interactive dashboard allows to refine. Analysts thus retain control of the final judgment. According to initial feedback, this articulation has allowed more time to explore qualitative nuances more quickly, while reducing individual interpretation biases.
According to the DSIT, if this tool were deployed across the more than 500 consultations conducted annually by the government, it could save the equivalent of 75,000 man-days of analysis, or about 20 million pounds in salary costs. By reducing delays, the tool would also allow decision-makers to integrate public feedback more quickly, contributing to more responsive public policy management.
Humphrey: An AI Suite for a More Agile Government
The internal AI suite "Humphrey" (an ironic nod to Sir Humphrey Appleby from the series Yes Minister) is not limited to Consult. This suite includes several tools aimed at streamlining the functioning of the state:
- Parlex: analyzes parliamentary debates to better guide public policies;
- Minute: ensures the transcription and summary of official meetings;
- Redbox: a generative assistant designed to help draft administrative documents;
- Lex: facilitates legal research by analyzing relevant laws.
With these technologies, the UK government hopes to reduce its reliance on expensive subcontractors while improving the productivity and efficiency of civil servants.
An Ambitious Transformation Plan
The integration of Humphrey is part of a broader strategy to modernize public services, presented in January as part of the "Plan for Change," which would allow the UK government to achieve 45 billion pounds in savings annually. Authorities have also announced the upcoming publication of a digital and AI roadmap to structure this evolution.
According to Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle:
"No one should waste time on something that AI can do faster and better, and certainly not waste millions of taxpayer pounds outsourcing this kind of work to contractors.After demonstrating such promising results, Humphrey will help us reduce governance costs and facilitate the comprehensive collection and review of what experts and the public tell us on a range of crucial issues.The Scottish government has taken a bold first step. Very soon, I will be using Consult, within Humphrey, in my own department, and others in Whitehall will also use it, thus accelerating our work in implementing the Plan for Change".
Before a large-scale deployment, further tests and evaluations of the tool will take place in the coming months.
To better understand
What are the potential regulatory challenges of using AI in public consultations like the one conducted by the Scottish government?
The integration of AI into public decision-making processes raises issues of algorithmic bias, decision-making transparency, and personal data protection. Regulators must ensure that AI use adheres to ethical and legal standards, ensuring fair and transparent decision-making.